The Woodrow Wilson Center Press

Conflict Unending: India-Pakistan Tensions since 1947

The escalating tensions between India and Pakistan have received renewed attention of late. Since their genesis in 1947, the nations of India and Pakistan have been locked in a seemingly endless spiral of hostility over the disputed territory of Kashmir. Ganguly asserts that the two nations remain mired in conflict due to inherent features of their nationalist agendas. Indian nationalist leadership chose to hold on to this Muslim-majority state to prove that minorities could thrive in a plural, secular polity. Pakistani nationalists argued with equal force that they could not part with Kashmir as part of the homeland created for the Muslims of South Asia. Ganguly authoritatively analyzes why hostility persists even after the dissipation of the pristine ideological visions of the two states and discusses their dual path to overt acquisition of nuclear weapons, as well as the current prospects for war and peace in the region.

Sumit Ganguly is professor of Asian studies and government at the University of Texas at Austin. He has been a fellow and a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. His previous books include The Crisis in Kashmir: Portents of War, Hopes of Peace.

What People are Saying

“An excellent new book on India-Pakistan relations and the three wars between them since independence.”—Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times

“This is a worthy successor to The Origins of War in South Asia, the author’s well-known study of conflict between India and Pakistan. … a highly readable and instructive guide to this deeply troubled and violent relationship, and a must for scholars of South Asia, students of intractable international conflicts, and policymakers.”—Kanti Bajpai, Jawaharlal Nehru University

“Ganguly’s comprehensive assessment of Indo-Pakistan tension should be required background reading for policy-makers, journalists and others seeking to understand the causes and history of conflict between these two sparring siblings.”—Asian Affairs

“Conflict Unending is a welcome successor to much-worn copies of Sources of Conflict on library shelves. There is no better concise presentation for those seeking a grounding in this sadly still current subject.”—Thomas Perry Thornton, Political Science Quarterly

“This outstanding examination of the India-Pakistan conflict is indispensable reading for the scholar and policymaker. Sumit Ganguly offers a guide to its deeper origins and its dangerous manifestations with clarity and rigor. Dr. Ganguly has explored the reasons for India-Pakistan discord; his book is a major contribution to our understanding of what has emerged as one of the world’s major trouble spots”—Stephen P. Cohen, Brookings Institution

“Into this vague understanding [of the India-Pakistan conflict] strides the refreshingly direct Conflict Unending: India-Pakistan Tensions since 1947, a book that manages to explicate the origins and evolution of South Asian political and military strife in a manner that is both straightforward and nuanced...making Conflict Unending’s clear account of the core motivations at work both timely and significant.”—Arms Control Today

“In his brilliant new book, [Ganguly] provides a sophisticated and lucid explanation of why India and Pakistan have suffered such chronically bad relations. Conflict Unending sets the industry standard … and it cements Ganguly’s reputation as one of the world’s leading experts on subcontinental political affairs.”—Lucian W. Pye, Foreign Affairs